In-Depth editors? More like angels sent from above

October 18, 2012 — by Karen Sung and Ashwini Velchamy
karenashwini

When you’re flipping through the newspaper, we know you find yourself inexplicably mesmerized by pages 18 and 19 — a section that emanates beauty and wisdom.

When you’re flipping through the newspaper, we know you find yourself inexplicably mesmerized by pages 18 and 19 — a section that emanates beauty and wisdom. We know you’re drawn to the In-Depth double page. Who can blame you? Well, meet the masterminds behind this In-Depth spread. (We accept donations and compliments in the form of food.)
We’ve taken the time to write this story to make a request of our beloved editor-in-chief: payment for the sufferings (that includes working with each other) we endure for this paper.
On Monday, Oct. 8., While everyone else was sleeping in and enjoying the holiday, we dragged ourselves out of bed at 10 in the morning for our In-Depth layout. We needed photos of three schools: Lynbrook, Harker and Bellarmine, and we only had an hour to take them because Ashwini had a dentist appointment at 11.
Armed with printouts of Google Maps, we set off to Lynbrook. Taking pictures was relatively painless, and we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves, even though Ashwini spent five shameful minutes trying to figure how to get off the roof of her Saab hatchback.
We soon went to Harker. Despite Karen’s failures at reading Google Maps, we did manage to reach the school surprisingly unscathed, and apart from the curious glances (and a friendly wave) we received from Harker’s security guard, our picture-taking went smoothly.
Final destination: Bellarmine. With a solid half-hour left, we were certain that Bellarmine would be just as easy as the other schools. Clearly, we had too much faith in ourselves.
First of all, Ashwini doesn’t know how to read freeway signs, so instead of taking I-880 N, she went on the ramp to 280 S. We were oblivious to this mistake until we realized that we had passed San Jose Downtown and were speeding toward the mountains.
After taking the nearest exit, we drove around a suspicious neighborhood (“Is this a hick town?”), somehow ending up on the San Jose State University campus. Realizing we were utterly lost, Ashwini pulled into the parking lot of San Jose Water Works to call her dad.
(Karen decided that this would be the ideal situation to start taking selfies.)
After receiving much-needed directions, we pulled out the parking lot and headed on our way again. Five trucks and three missed turns later, we finally arrived at our destination, to our unbridled relief.
You should have heard us scream with joy when we saw the blessed logo of Bellarmine College Preparatory. Clearly, our definition of “happiness” differs greatly from that of a sane person. Determined to take photos as quickly as possible, we traipsed around Bellarmine, unaware that school was actually in session, and after a few quick shots of the school (or in Karen’s case, the football players), we returned to the car.
Unsurprisingly, Ashwini’s dentist was very pleased when she arrived 45 minutes late for her appointment.
Moral of the story: Invest in a GPS.
It’s not exactly a secret that when you receive our paper, many of you merely scan the front headline, take a glance at the centerfold and then settle with reading the Top Ten. All of us on staff know that, but that doesn’t stop us from trying our best to put out the best newspaper every single time.
So, please appreciate our page. Relish it. (And write editor-in-chief Jackie Gu a strongly worded Letter to the Editor demanding that we poor, overworked souls receive a raise.)
 
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